Acute Lower-Extremity Ischemia in a Patient with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has become a global pandemic. The typical symptoms are fever, cough, and shortness of breath, but the disease can present with atypical signs, including those associated with a hypercoagulable state. These signs include deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, ischemic stroke, and acute coronary syndrome. Herein, we present the case of acute bilateral lower-extremity ischemia as a thromboembolic complication in a patient with COVID-19. CASE REPORT A 76-year-old woman presented with acute bilateral lower-extremity ulcerations covered with eschar formation of several weeks' duration. During her hospital course, she underwent a test for COVID-19 and the result was positive. An angiogram of the patient's lower extremities showed occlusions of the right distal posterior tibial artery, right mid-distal anterior tibial artery, right dorsalis pedis artery, left mid-distal anterior tibial artery, left dorsalis pedis artery, and left popliteal vein. Tissue plasminogen activator was administered to treat the occlusions. On the following day, the patient had an acute decline in her neurologic state and was emergently intubated. A computed tomography scan of the brain confirmed a subarachnoid hemorrhage requiring reversal of tissue plasminogen activator. The patient was transitioned to comfort care and ultimately died. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, acute limb ischemia should be acknowledged as a rare complication associated with COVID-19. It is important to raise awareness of arterial thrombosis as a possible complication of the hypercoagulable state caused by SARS-CoV-2 because prompt recognition is essential for early diagnosis and treatment. These actions could have a significant impact on patients' overall outcome.

Bilateral Spontaneous Pneumothorax in a COVID-19 and HIV-Positive Patient: A Case Report.

This case report describes a 60 year-old Black-American male with a past medical history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and hyperthyroidism, who suffered a bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) in the setting of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. SP is a well-established complication in HIV-positive patients and only recently has been associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. While HIV and COVID-19 infections have been independently linked with increased risk of SP development, it is unknown if both infections interact in a synergistic fashion to exacerbate SP risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), patients living with HIV have a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection and the mechanism remains to be elucidated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a HIV-positive patient, who in the setting of SARS-CoV-2 infection, developed bilateral apical spontaneous pneumothorax and was later found to have a left lower lobe tension pneumothorax. This case highlights the importance of considering SP on the differential diagnosis when HIV-positive patients suddenly develop respiratory distress in the setting of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Comparison of Resident Self-Evaluation to Standardized Patient Evaluators in a Multi-Institutional Objective Structured Clinical Examination: Objectively Measuring Residents' Communication and Counseling Skills.

BACKGROUND: For the past 30 years, there has been a growing emphasis on communication and self-evaluation skills training in graduate medical education. This is reflected in the Next Accreditation System. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is widely used in graduate medical education for assessing dimensions of interpersonal communication and counseling skills. The OSCEs may be developed to target challenging clinical scenarios difficult to capture in clinical practice and can be used as a medium for resident self-evaluation. OBJECTIVES: The aims of the study were to evaluate residents' interpersonal, communication, and counseling skills using Kalamazoo Essential Elements Communication Checklist in 4 clinically challenging scenarios and to compare standardized patient (SP) evaluations to residents' self-evaluation by category of medical school. METHODS: South East Michigan Center for Medical Education is a consortium of teaching hospitals. Member residents participate in 4 OSCEs as part of their postgraduate 1 curriculum. The OSCEs were developed to evaluate clinically relevant but difficult to capture scenarios including: (a) error disclosure/counseling an angry patient; (b) delivering bad news/end of life; (c) domestic violence; and (d) counseling a patient with colon cancer requesting alternative treatments. At the conclusion of each OSCE, SPs evaluated and residents self-evaluated their performance. Once evaluations were completed, SPs provided residents with feedback. RESULTS: Six member institutions and 344 residents participated during the 2014, 2015, and 2016 academic years. There were more international medical graduates (59%) than graduates of Liaison Committee for Medical Education-accredited medical schools. There were more males (62.2%) than females. Standardized patients rated residents higher than residents rated themselves in 2014 (<0.001), but not in 2015 or 2016. When combining all years and all residents, there was no correlation of SP and resident scores. Standardized patients rated female residents higher than female residents rated themselves (P < 0.0001). Male residents scored themselves similarly to the SPs, but male residents rated themselves higher than female residents rated themselves (P < 0.001). Standardized patient scores for male and female residents were not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted OSCEs provide an objective format to evaluate residents in challenging clinical scenarios. Resident self-evaluations did not correlate with SPs. In addition, female residents rated themselves lower than male residents and lower than SPs. There is need to develop interventions and curricula to improve resident's self-evaluation skills and in particular address lower self-evaluation by female trainees.

Esophageal Microperforation due to Calcified Mediastinal Lymph Node Leading to Tracheoesophageal Fistula.

A 42-year-old male presented with worsening gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms and cough. The clinical symptoms during the early course of illness were striking for aspiration pneumonia. He was given a prescription of proton pump inhibitors and antibiotics. Rapid decline in the clinical condition with worsening respiratory status was noted. Worsening symptoms of fever, cough, and chest pain prompted further diagnostic work-up suggesting esophageal microperforation. Esophagogram was found to be suggestive of tracheoesophageal fistula. The tracheoesophageal fistula was due to subcarinal lymph node of nontuberculous origin.